Pokemon: A Journey Into a Chaotic World
by Reshrim
Summary: No one would believe you, unless they've heard it for themselves. No one would believe you, unless they've seen it for themselves. And you wouldn't believe me, unless I've proven it to yourself. But most people aren't me. {Self-insert -Mature content - This is a fan fiction based on Pokemon: Chaotic World. Please read author notes before you review}


**D**_**isclaimer: This fanfiction is an inspiration from an author **__**Revenantzero**__** whilst his Fanfic is named **__**Pokemon: Chaotic World**__**.**_

_**{A/N: During my time enjoying his work, I've noticed how it really jumps out at you, it's not an ordinary Pokemon fanfiction and it comes together really well. This is going to be my take on his version with a few minor alterations of cause and effect. From an Inserted perspective.**_

_**This is not a crossover fanfiction, but it will be filled with my very own OC's and **__**Revenantzero's**__** characters. There is also going to be absolutely NO, gigantified pokemon - there will be bigger than normal Pokemon, maybe 3x to 4x their size but nothing like 100 feet like explained/shown in the anime or other fanfics, even though it was there, it was never explained even till now so I have no clue how it'll work in to the fanfic.**_

_**Holy shit, ok; This single chapter took forty pages to write, I want to go over it and do my magic but I honestly can't be fucked. A bit of the content is Copy/pasted from Pokemon chaotic world, but I have altered some of it, the copied shit was mostly info dumps and aligning the current plot with the alternate one enjoy :}**_

A constant flash of light, smashing against my eyelids was the least bothering annoyance at my current moment. Neither was the shattering sound of thunder flowing through both my ears that I swear resembled voices, it was just the constant touching, a touch from my left, and a shove from my right.

It was as if these things, these people weren't in any more of a rush than what they could've been, its like their sole purpose is just to be somewhere, a place where I'm going, i feel as if i'm just a drop of water flowing roughly through a stream.

Another shove from behind, a shout that I could make out 'Move it already' but what he doesn't know is that I'M TRYING, it's just so hard, ''what is going on'' i quietly whisper. 'Bang' wait till i I could fucking see and than ill see who even dares to even think of touching me again, ill break their fucking neck, I thought as I'm shoved to the gound.

'Crash' I smash into the ground, quickly curled up slightly in defence, covering my head with my arms crossed in an X like fashion worried about being stepped on, the sound of people completely ignoring me drives me crazy. 'Nobody, not a single person is trying to help me at all, these cunts' anger is the only emotion cursing throughout my body.

'What the fuck is going on' was my most worried thought, last thing I remember was a great night out at the valley, dodging the 'boys', a nice fuck with a woman named… ah shit, the white girl with black lingerie, freezing my balls off waiting for my uber, some other shit and I KNOW for the life of me I was in bed, sleeping comfortably on christmas eve. 'Merry Christmas'

Damn, I squint my eyes's shut as the gigawatt migraine assaults my senses, I've never had one this bad, I thought as I reflexively curl into a ball as a shoving feeling starts to smash my brain.

'Boom' It was just a whole set of different memories flying by instantaneously, ''aahahhhhhh'' I scream as I felt what I could only describe as a mental overload attack me.

It was just this major buzzing sound clicking in my head 'bzzt' the entire process as I felt my-self pathetically scrunched into a bawl.I just want this to end, this would've been cool an all, this, whatever this is before but im hurting and I want to die right now. It's just this consistent tortuous pain hitting my nerves, like a grinding sensation chipping on my nerves, going a thousand miles per second. I just want to die right now, this was what I was thinking, I should've given a shit about my surroundings but i just wanted to die, because that's what I felt like what was going to happen, no pain I purley believed could be as bad as what i was feeling now.

Just as quick is it came, it went. Like a wave it came and now its gone. I felt the tears build up my eyes as it lingered there, brushing the un-shed tears away, I raise my right hand and slowly brush from left to right.

Quickly, and with a new found sense of purpose, I rush myself up to my feet, finally able to observe my surroundings I take a deep breath in, held my breath from the breadth of a second, exhaling just as slowly I opened my eyes to find myself in a sea of teenagers, ranging from ages Eleven to Fifteen. There were thousands of us gathered here, teenagers standing in rows of forty, lined up with the special few slightly out of place.

After that it was just rows and rows, a continuous design spread throughout the entire area. Beside every bunch however; you could see a single male or female standing right next to a specified group, acting as an instructor.

Squinting slightly, I look past the lake of hormones to see gates enclosed around our entire area with a ticket booth like functioning area as an entrance, with a spare few teenagers trickling their way inside.

Bringing my attention back to the gates, I could spot families; fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters that appear older than fifteen and children younger than ten, pressed up against the gates of their own free will, it would have made an odd sight on a regular day, or any day to be honest, if it was just a single family doing it. But it wasn't, that was what you could spot along all the gates, families with tears in their eyes holding onto what I could only describe as hope.

''Hey kid! Get to your station'' I find the source of the voice speaking to me, nodding my head at him slowly, I make my way over to my districts line, step by step, I couldn't stop myself from looking at each face I passed, all filled with dread 'idiots' I laugh on my way over to a line a minute ahead.

Coming to a halt, I take a peek down my lane to see one of the older kids shaking like an island dancer with both legs wobbling from side to side opposite of each other. Not able to help myself, I start laughing so HARD that keeping up my smile is beginning to hurt, a hand raised to cover the tears threatening to fall from my eyes with my other pointing weakly at the kid who looks like he is about to piss himself. Calming myself down and ending it with a light case of chuckling I look back up to see everyone in my vicinity staring at me.

Recovering myself slowly I just ignore the sheep around me waiting for the show to start, giving off a vibe making them think as if they don't exist.

Now, most would wonder about how calm I am compared to before, what happened? You see, this type of phenomenon is hard to explain, if not down right unexplainable. You see, I am ninty-nine percent sure that I was transmigrated, isekaid, inserted, or whatever the fuck you want to call it into a world of pokemon. Now most people would be jumping for joy, who hasn't wanted to be inserted into such a wonderful place? But let me explain; this isn't just any Pokemon universe, this one completely resembles a fiction that I have redd named Pokemon: Chaotic World.

Again, most people would be wondering how I came across this piece of information; but as I stated before, this other type of phenomenon is hard to explain, if not down right unexplainable. So I'll try my best to describe it.

Have you ever had a whole nother set of memories assimilated into you, not the feelings, emotions, or purpose of those memories, but just the visual representations of what those memories represent. I bet you haven't; when those memories hit me, it just felt like I was watching myself, from the kids body I possessed or overtook, i'm not sure how to explain but it was from his perspective. From the kid's birth, his childhood memories, his first crush, the action's the kid took to make sure no one else went near her, the bullying he did, I watched how his parents denounced trainers, how they blamed humanity's situation on Pokemon entirely, the prejudice this kid had against Pokemon and the situation that I'm in, but I'll get to that later. I viewed that entire process in just a second, in almost an instant; but if felt like an eternity even though I consciously knew it was instant, weird right?

But hell I am still jumping for joy in my heart regardless of my situation, its funny how most would see this as a bad thing, how a select few would do anything to get back to their previous world, I mean, can those bastards just comprehend what has happened to them?

Your sent to an ENTIRELY different universe and your first action is wanting to go back? In my opinion, those people are ridiculosly idiotic; the only reason I'd EVER want to go back was if I had a fiance, someone I truly loved from the bottom of my heart, too bad im not one of those select indiviuals. I want to be the best, I want an adventure, I want power, regardless I still have morales, and I don't want power given to me, I want to earn it. And to sum it tall up, im in POKEMON, it doesn't matter what type of universe Im in, im so excited i'm getting jitters.

Now back to the situation at hand, 'selection day' have you ever seen hunger games? Well unless you've lived under a rock i'm sure you have, imagine that entire selection process, that's what 'selection day is, choosing those lucky few as our next city state trainers, and like hunger games, noone wants to be chosen.

Regardless this process is pretty straight forward, thousands of names are in a bowl, the scarred gym leader Alix Muliere and most feared man in Asidia; our city-states name. Selects the agreed upon amount of paper names from within that bowl; sometimes there could be as much as dozens of chosen, sometimes there could be as few as five, it's all completely random; and by random, im referring to how the league decides the agreed upon amount, i'm sure there's this whole process to it, like having a certain amount of trainers at a given time, or even adding on to that amount to prepare for an unknown threat, but like i said; random.

Here's the kicker to this whole shebang, the entire reason humanity's civilian community despises Pokemon is because most, if not all think it was their fault for turning on humanity originally causing the destruction of as close to seventy-five percent of humanity's population; which causes an untold amount of resentment to build up and explode in the single direction, they think that those billions of people; families, children and more died just because of them, that they turned their backs on us.

Everyone was told of how hard that time period was and how difficult it was to build back up to how it is now, villagers were swept away, towns were demolished, and the city's were sunk, with the most populated ones burnt to the ground within days.

Trainers are barely even seen as protectors or freedom fighters anymore, in their collective view, they are a necessity.

Trainers are despised because they are viewed as pokemon sympathisers, even though most aren't given the choice, and the only reason more than half off the volunteers actually volunteer, is to lead a better life than what they are given, because like in hunger games, there are different districts, there are even districts in our city-state designated to the poor.

These ideologies blind the younger generation, which in turn becomes the elder generation; and the cycle continues.

But like I stated before; Humanity, nearly as a whole believe it was solely their fault, but was it really? Because I know the truth, as explained in the Fanfiction Pokemon: Chaotic World _**(I'm going to alter the reason, but im just going to explain how I knew how it all happened, blaming on fiction knowledge)**_

Humanity, from start to finish; played with the lives of both ourselves and pokemon consistently throughout time, it was always, death and destruction, betrayal one after another, the legendaries consistently hunted down, time and time again with the least amount of resistance. But humanity pushed them a little to far too late.

There has always been organisations, corporations, cults and so on who strived to abuse the power of legendaries, contain them, force them to do their deeds all for the goal of power, to become the new continental power, to rule the region, to force their ideologies on humanity, to use their god given power and rule the world.

It was the same excuse, time and time again, and yet; the legendaries always turned a blind eye, but one group, pushed them too far, too hard.

The beginning of the end, all started with an organisation named Team Flare.

Team rocket of Kanto and Jhoto, Team Aqua of Hoen, Team Magma of Hoen, Team Galactic of Sinnoh, Team Plasma of Unova, Team Skull of Alola, Team Rainbow Of Rocket of Alola, Team Cipher and the many other organisations all had the goal of continental or world domination through the abuse of legendary power, to benefit themselves.

And the legendaries resisted as best they could against these chaotic plots.

However; Team Flare of Kalos is the reason this world is shaped to what it is today.

Like many already knew; The world was not always like this. Long ago, Children could not wait for their eleventh birthday. The day that they could become a Pokemon Trainer and receive their first pokemon. Trainers would then travel far and wide, catching and training pokemon. Some would use these Pokemon to challenge gyms to earn badges that would qualify them for Pokemon League Tournaments. Others would enter them in contests to show off their pokemon. Whatever the reason, being a Pokemon trainer was once considered a right of passage for every child.

All that changed after the cataclysm. This event was caused due to the actions of one of the pokemon gangs of the time, Team Flare. Team Flare was an organisation that used Pokemon to commit various crimes; minor crimes to some of the most gruesome scenes you may likely come across, like all other gangs.

They captured and stole every type of Pokemon at any given chance, using them to vandalize, steal, murder and further their own hidden agenda's. Their ultimate goal was to capture the legendary Pokemon and use them to rule the world. After years of trying and failing to capture a legendary they finally succeeded.

They found the legendary Pokemon Yveltal in stasis, hidden away from the world where he slept for his thousand year cycle. Team Flare thinking that with all their greatness was just a few more steps away from world domination. Their leader Lysandre; a man who's descended from an immortal ancient king's brother who had lived for over three-thousand years, had stolen the device he had managed to create which can bring back the dead, at the cost of a living life source.

A few alterations to this device allowed him to turn it into a weapon; by draining the life energy of Yveltal, he could use it to obliterate everything in his wake.

Whole cities in Kalos, gone in the blink of an eye. Billions of Pokemon and millions of humans turned to dust instantaneously, entire biomes completely destroyed. Generations completely wiped out at the whim of a tyrant. So drunk on his power he became blinded, Greed; an attachment every human has, an emotion that had fueled the wars for millennials.

But now, watching this scene play out, so sick of humanity's Greed, they turned, they rallied and they destroyed.

Millions of wild Pokemon led by the enraged legendary Pokemon attacked the human settlements across the world, no one was safe. The villages and small towns were the first to fall. Although the Trainers in those small settlements tried to protect civilians, they were vastly outnumbered.

Most of those settlements were wiped out in a matter of minutes. Both humans and trained Pokemon were torn apart by the creatures we once coexisted with. Those that managed to survive the first assault evacuated their homes and headed to the nearest large town or city. They hoped that the larger trainer population as well as the powerful gym leaders in those settlements would be enough to protect them. Sadly, most of the evacuees did not survive the journey.

By this time the Pokemon leagues of the various regions managed to rally the surviving Trainers. Trainers were organized into squads and set on guard duty around the settlements. The trainers were ordered to catch as many of the local wild Pokemon as possible to prepare for the fight they knew was coming. Unfortunately, the rage of the legendary Pokemon infected all wild pokemon. Even the most docile Pokemon attacked any humans on sight.

Captured pokemon became much harder to tame than before. Newly captured pokemon instantly attacked their unprepared trainers on first being released from their pokeballs.

Trainers had no choice but to try and dominate the wills of their new Pokemon and force them to obey.

While the leagues were preparing, the civilian governments were also forming their own preparations. Construction crews and volunteers were quickly constructing tall walls around the towns and cities in the hopes of keeping out most of the wild pokemon. Crops were rushed in from the outlying farms. Underground shelters were dug up within the city boundaries. The cities were preparing for a long siege.

Despite all their preparation, none of them were ready for the oncoming storm. The day came were hordes of pokemon descended on the remaining cities, while the walls kept out the weaker Pokemon, the stronger were able to break through.

Pokemon swarmed the cities, destroying buildings and attacking any humans on sight. The trainers and their Pokemon did their best to drive them out but most were overwhelmed and brought down.

Just when it seemed that humanity was going to be driven to extinction, the attacking Pokemon stopped. All the wild Pokemon stood in place staring up at the sky. After a few minutes they all turned around and began leaving the cities.

To this day no one knew the reason why the Pokemon did not finish humanity off. The survivors only gave their thanks for being spared. Those who survived the final assault remained in the shelters until supplies began running low.

At that point they sent out some of the remaining trainers beyond the city boundaries to see if it was safe to venture out. They soon returned with troubling news. While the pokemon returned to their natural habitats, they continued to be aggressive to any human they came across. It was no longer safe to leave the settlements without a pokemon for protection.

What remained of the pokemon leagues needed to take immediate action. Representatives came together to select the next course of action needed to survive in this brand new world.

It was decided that humans would no longer live spread out into many settlements of various sizes. Instead, all humans would live within the remaining towns and cities for their protection. The walls would be rebuilt and reinforced. All settlements would need to be primarily self sufficient. Farming would have to be done within the city walls. The few resources that could not be produced within the walls would need to be traded for from other cities or carefully gathered from the wilds. No civilian would be permitted to leave the settlements without being escorted by a Pokemon trainer.

The lives of Pokemon trainers underwent some changes as well. No longer was being a trainer about being the best there was or winning tournaments. Trainers became the first and last line of defence that stood between humanity and the vicious wild pokemon. Instead of collecting badges, trainers were now paid to complete missions.

These missions can be anything from guard duty within the city to escorting civilians outside the walls. How much they were paid depended on the difficulty of the mission.

Because of the forced isolation between the cities, regional governments were disbanded. Each city was declared a city-state and ruled itself without interference. The Pokemon leagues remained and continued to govern the lives of Pokemon trainers within their regions. The leagues had offices in every city state were they received mission requests from the city-state governments and from private citizens. They then organised and posted the mission according to difficulty.

The civilian governments were dependent on trainers for their survival. However, as a result of the cataclysm, Pokemon became the cause of terror for most humans. No longer did the leagues have thousands of children eager to become trainers each year. There were very few who desired to become trainers in this new world. Because of the shortage of new trainers needed to maintain the status quo, the league and city state officials once again met and established a new policy.

Once a year every city state held what became known as the selection day. On selection day, all children from ages eleven to fifteen would stand before the league and city state officials where a small number would be randomly chosen to become that year's batch of potential Pokemon trainers. Failure was not an option. From that point on, their old civilian lives were over.

They either succeeded as a Pokemon trainer or became the dregs of society, not being able to go back to the lives they once knew.

A hundred years have passed since the cataclysm. Humanity has struggled to rise from the ashes of the old world. Selection days continued to be held each year. Today is the day where I and others like me must once again face the dreaded choice.

Today is selection day.

'Hmm' we are all just waiting for all the children to get settled into their designated areas, with maybe a few people double checking that everyone is here; if you're caught trying to evade selection day; your immediate punishment will be becoming a chosen, with a heavy fine on your family.

SO it's easier to just turn up and hope the odds are ever in your favor.

I am staring at the City Hall. In front of the entrance is a massive wooden stage that was erected for today's event. On the stage is a light projector with a very large monitor attached. The slip with your name will be placed beneath for all to be shown via projector, which in turn will decide the future of the kids that are standing in the area around me. The gates or booths shut just as the last remaining people shuffled in and made their journey to their given spot in trepidation, Soon we will see our city state's governor and Pokemon Gym Leader walkthrough and begin the selection process.

I've been in here for a few hours as my?newly dubbed family waits for me outside the gates, unknown, if they are pressed up against the gates, wishing to get a closer look, afraid of my fate.

Hunger has started to assault me as my stomach growls in wait. I can tell that most of the people around me would be hungry as well if they were not shaking in terror.

Finally, movement brings our entire attention as some of the most recognized figures in Asidia ascend to the stage in front of thousands. One of the ones of the left; Governor Jonis Brecher, the grey haired ruler of our city state. On the right walks the man himself, Alix Muliere, a man considered a nightmare to most beside me. Behind them walk six others, all wearing the arm badges which signify them being Pokemon trainers. They all step onto the stage and arrange themselves with governor brecher and Leader Muliere on the front and the trainers spread out from behind them.

The governor raises her hands and immediately both inside and outside of the gates descend into silence. ''Welcome children to this year's Selection Day,'' she says. ''For those of you who are here for the first time let me introduce myself. I am Jonis Brecher,governor of our fair and fine city state Asidia.I would also like to introduce Alix Muliere, Gym Leader of the Asidia Gym and official representative of our regions Pokemon League.''

There was a slight scattered applause from the crowd. The governor looks around at the assembled faces while the gym leader stands with crossed arms. ''You all know why you are here today. Today is the day this year's batch of potential Pokemon trainers ae selected from our population. Those chosen few will then be taken to the trainer district where they will be given a week to prepare for the ordeal which determines if they become official Pokemon trainers. Those who pass their Ordeal will then move on to accept the missions which are the lifeblood of our society.''

The governor looked down for a moment then looks back out to the crowd, 'maybe to read the next part of his cards' i thought with an eye roll. ''I know that none of you have any desires to be here today'' 'I do' ''Most if not all of you have heard of the terrifying stories about the lives of Pokemon trainers. Well, let me tell you all right now. Everything you have heard about Pokemon and trainers are true.''

She stood there quietly for a moment, giving the majority of everyone here a few seconds to let that statement set in. ''There is a reason that almost no child wishes to become a trainer. Pokemon are vicious monsters that would tear apart and devour each and everyone one of us if given the chance'' 'And who;s fault is that' I give another eye roll at this bullshit propaganda. ''If not for the wall that surrounds our city state, we would live in constant fear of Pokemon and the chaos that could unleash upon us.'' she pauses for another moment.

''However, the wall itself is not the solution to the pokemon threat. Outside the wall exist Pokemon that are so powerful, they could tear our walls to pieces without breaking stride. There are Pokemon capable of flight who can simply go over the wall and disrupt the peace we have seen for a century. There are even Pokemon who can simply dig underground and go under the wall to enter our peaceful city, Asidia. Pokemon trainers have always been the first and last line of defense that stand between us and the monsters outside of these walls. That is why we are here today. Selection Day is a needed measure to ensure that we have enough firepower to deal with any Pokemon threat. '' She stops and stares and the silent crowd for a moment.

I could hear some crying going on around me. As the weight of today's crashes against the shoulders of the many present.

''Without Pokemon trainers civilization as we know it would end. Know that those of you who are chosen today will be sacrificing your futures to ensure the continued survival of the human race. I thank each and every one of you for coming here today. To those of you who are chosen today I would like to say this. Our hearts go out to you and your families. Do not let your sacrifici be in vain. Be the best trainers that you can be and help us keep the great city state of Asidia safe for your families and all our citizens. Thank you.'' This time there is no applause as the governor steps back behind the gym leader.

After a moment of silence, Gym Leader Muliere finally speaks to the crowd. ''I would like to thank the governor for her words and hope that all those who are chosen today and in the future take heart to everything she said. Pokemon training is not a game. It is not a hobby or a sport we play for glory. We perform a necessary function for this and all city states in our region. Survival of the human race depends on us. Think on that when you hear your name being called today.''

He turns to his left and nods to one of the trainers behind him. The trainer moves to sit behind the light projector. ''I'm not one to mince words. I am sure all of you are anxious to get on with the selection, so let's get this show on the road.''

''As most of you know, every year a different number of potential trainers are chosen from each city state. This number is agreed upon by the Pokemon League and the governors according to perceived need. It has been decided that this year Asidia will choose four among you to become potential Pokemon trainers,'' he said.

The crowd of civilians began muttering to themselves after this announcement. Some of the prospective trainers became more worried while others became less so. Four would be chosen this year. Four names will be chosen at random by Gym Leader Muliere. Not a bad number.

Leader Muliere raised a hand to silence the crowd. ''As all of you know, each year before the random names are chosen, we ask if there are any volunteers to be counted among today's chosen few. Any volunteers will be counted towards the four determined chosen and will mean less will be chosen by me.'' he stopped speaking and stared into the crowd. ''so , if any of you wish to serve your city state and region by becoming a Pokemon trainer, now would be the time to speak up.''

Utter silence. Not surprisingly really. It's a rare occurrence for anyone to volunteer on this day. Just as the leader was about to move on a voice called out.

''I volunteer!''

Many in the crowd gasped and looked for the source of the voice. A figure moved towards the stage. ''I volunteer!'' he said again.

Peaking around the crowd, I spotted him. Scraggy and scruffy clothes. Unbelievably thin; a stick would be used to describe his arms. Clearly someone who has lived a harder life.

Just the description of his well-being gives me reason to assume he was lower class. Probably district nine or higher.

Muliere mentioned for the boy. He climbed up on the stage. They spoke silently for a few moments before the leader turned back to the crowd. ''This year we are honored to have a volunteer. Allow me to introduce Hugo Rawls.'' There was some applause directed at Hugo. Most, if not all of the other prospects looked happy that he volunteered.

''Well, with that we now have only three more chosen to select from this year unless anyone else would like to volunteer.'' he looked around the crowd but there were no more volunteers. ''Alright then, it's time to let chance select the other three chosen.'' he turned to the trainer at the light projector and nodded. ''Lets begin''

The gym Leader Muliere walks up to the bowl, presses his hand straight through and stirs, it had already been stirred previously while we were all waiting throughout their speech, but I guess he wants to do this one 'for the road' type of thing.

He walks back with his collected papers and hands them to the trainer who places one of the names under the light projector for the world to see.

Everyone in the crowd became tense, myself excluded.

''This years second chosen is,'' Mulliere said while staring at the projector. ''Phillip Zacker!'' he turned back to the crowd. ''Phillip Zacker! Come Forward!''

Everyone looked around trying to find a boy, only to see this nerdy looking kid shaking in my row as he moves ever so slowly out of place. Phillip; yea, from this kids memory I know the kid, he's one of those kids who just take what the world throws at him with a smile. He's one of the main kids my predecessor mainly picked on for various made up reasons, the amount of shit 'me' and 'my gang' put him through is unnerving, his life has been a living hell at school, and 'I' made sure of it.

But this was the moment I was waiting for; you see,I could have volunteered earlier because becoming a Pokemon Trainer was what I wanted as soon as I became conscious of my surroundings, which had given me enough time to come up with a clearer picture of what was going on.

And I knew what was going to happen to this Kid, he didn't even survive his Ordeal, he died on his first day out, never to return to the city walls again, never to be seen again. So I thought maybe I could use this opportunity both as an apology for my past self, and to save his life, making my unspoken debt void.

I just saved his life.

Now im no hero, but since I knew the kid, and saw what 'I' did to him through my newfound memories, I felt bad, a little guilty, but it's not something I'd lose a night of sleep over, because it wasn't 'me' who did that shit to him.

''I volunteer in his place'' I calmly, but loudly state for all those around me to hear.

You could hear a pin drop, through the silence if there ever was such an occurrence. So i said again ''I volunteer in Phillip's place.'' Phillip just froze as his face turned to the source of said voice, searching for the face who had acted in his moment of greatest weakness and found mine, his eyes widened like saucers as his mouth opened up in disbelief.

Me, his ex-bully volunteered in his place. Me, his main tormenter was the one to save him.

I calmly looked at him as I started to walk past the rows of teenagers, past people 'I once knew' and past Phillip. ''I'm sorry'' I say, on my way upto the stage. If I could see his face, I would see the look of disbelief drawn upon his face, If I were him, I would try to reason why I'm doing this for him, but I wasn't him and I didn't see his face. But I knew what he was thinking and I knew he just turned to face me; to maybe ask why, to give him a reason for doing what im doing.

But I didn't say a word, I didn't even look back. I just waved from in front, so that he could see it from behind.

Getting up the stage, I took point and made my way over besides Hugo; the kid who volunteered before me and stood beside him.

It was still hard for everyone to comprehend what just happened however the man, Alix Muliere himself, snapped everyone out of it as he approached me and asked, ''What's your name son.'' ''Cipher, the names Cipher Black.''Muliere gives a nod of acknowledgement, turns his back to me and addresses the crowd, ''We have another brave volunteer in place of Phillip Zacker, can we have another round of applause'' there was some light applause from most of everyone, but you could see the devastation of the faces of a few, past 'friends', a few of them with faces of disgust.

Not a sight I could find myself to care about, I've practically already labeled all those without a Pokemon as sheep, sheep who are just apart of a dying herd which live inside a fence.

Muliere says a few more words before continuing on with Selection Day. ''This year's third chosen is'' the screen moved with a different name. ''Ginnette Beckwitt!''

A girl closer to the stage fell to her knees and broke down crying, she had expensive clothing on, a similar cloth to mine, maybe a little older than my current age, possibly fourteen years old.

'Upper class' I automatically assumed. 'Clearly around the same district from me'

''Ginnette Beckwitt! Come forward!''

Ginnette given no indication of hearing the Gym Leader. She simply remained on her knees and continued to cry. Mulliere mentioned for two of the trainers on stage as they moved to 'help' Ginnette. They both picked her up and moved her next to me, as she struggled in their hands.

Once again everyone's eye moved to the monitor. Muliere spoke up again, ''This years final chosen is.'' The screen stopped on the last name. ''Robert Singleton!''

''Robert Singleton!'' Muliere repeated. ''Come forward!''.

Seconds passed as a crowd started moving away from a young boy, away from Robert, the main character from that fiction's brother.

And here I am just waiting for the inevitable, because I knew this would happen. Which was one of the main reasons I volunteered for Phillip, Instead of Volunteering when they were asking for some. You see; I don't know how it would happen, maybe if I volunteered, his name wouldn't have come out since then they would have only needed two more, which could've been; Phillip again and Ginnette which would make the main character excluded from volunteering. Which would fuck up the original plot, making it harder for me to plan future events, since the plot from the novel revolved aound him.

And if I just waited for everyone to be picked and volunteered at the end of the session, giving us five Pokemon trainers, he may have formed a grudge towards me, since if I volunteered earlier, he wouldn't have been in this mess, therefore if he was looking for someone to blame, he would look at me.

So I had to wait for the right time, to make sure that grudge didn't form. I have no clue what could have come out from that grudge, but it definitely couldn't have been something good for me. He was the main character for a reason, and I dont want to fuck with that cosmic shit right now, if there was any in the first place, but im not taking my chances; especially when it doesnt benefit me in any way.

''I volunteer, I volunteer in my brothers place'' a loud but nervous voice screams from within the crowd, right next to his brothers place.

Most and if not all took a moment of silence to stare at the boy who volunteered in another's place for a second time today, an extremely rare sequence of events that had played out in the span of just a few minutes. Just a few seconds of pause before the boy, Jacob if i remembered correctly walked forwards towards us with a nervous gait.

Arriving besides us, he lines up with the rest of us as Muliere asked him quietly, but not enough for us not to hear. ''This is your one and only chance to back out son. Be sure this is what you want because there's no going back''

''I volunteer to take my brothers place,'' jacob says, as he gathers his courage and looks Muliere dead in the eyes. I let out a grin at the oozing confidence i feel radiating off Jacob.

It takes a man to stand up for your family, and an even bigger one to stare into those eyes and say those words.

''What's your name?'' Muliere asked

Jacob. Jacob Singleton was the boys response.

Muliere returns to address the crowd. ''This year we are honored to have a third volunteer! I present you Jacob Singleton!'' No applause from the crowd this time, most are trying to process the series of events that have taken place.

The governor moves forward to stand next to the gym leader. ''We present you this years chosen. Hugo Rawls, Cipher Black, Ginnette Beckwitt, and Jacob Singleton!'' she says before turning to the four of us. ''From this day forward your civilian lives are over. Become strong trainers and make your city state proud.'' She moved away from us and began to clap. Slowly, the crowd in front of us started to clap as well. Judging from the looks of most faces, they were not clapping for us chosen. They were clapping in relief to those present of not being chosen.

This second as I stood in front of all these people, felt like almost an eternity. Thinking back to my past like, the memories, dreams I had hoped to achieve seemed minuscule to what I accomplished here. And out of all the people present here, im sure I was the one with the brightest smile plastered against my face. 'Lucky' I think to myself.

After Governor Brecker dismissed the crowds of civilians, Muliere and the other trainers took us to the nearest magnet train. Our destination was district 10. After disembarking the train I followed behind the trainers ahead of me whilst getting a quick look around my new, soon to be home district. District 10, more commonly known as the trainer district, quite easily the largest district in Asidia. What's known about it is that it is roughly 20 percent of the city state and as the name implies, has and always will be reserved for Pokemon trainers.

Despite this, this district possessed less buildings than any other district in Asidia. There was the small magnet train station which we were currently occupying, it wasn't anything to fancy, since it isn't for _'civilian use'_. Near where we are walking, just outside the station, I could see the Pokemon Center; A damn Pokemon center, right in front of me, it looks exactly like it does in the anime.

Seeing this, I could feel myself becoming overwhelmed with an astonishing amount of nostalgia, I mean; me and my brother's grew up playing every single game, ever since Ruby and sapphire, and nearly every other game after. I know where I am, but hot damn if I can't enjoy this moment.

It's really just something you grow along with, and than you gets to the point where you start to think how dumb ash really is.

Scattered around the Center there were a few buildings which I assumed were residential buildings for trainers. Farthest from the station, I could see the Asidia Pokemon gym, home of the Gym Leader and special training ground for elite trainers. Easily one of the largest buildings in my current vicinity. The rest of this large district was filled with outdoor training grounds, Imagine those dueling grounds you would always see outside of a Pokemon centre, the ones consistently shown in the anime.

I could see split sections of many different kinds of environments of various sizes. Some of the training grounds were currently occupied by single trainers or groups of trainers and their Pokemon.

Real life Pokemon, even with all this going on, I'm still hoping that this isn't a dream, and if it is, i hope to the very bones hidden within my body, that I never wake up.

Muliere led us forward until we reached the front of the Pokemon Center. He turned to us stating, "this here is our Pokemon Center. This is where you four will reside in for the foreseeable future. Over the next week, we will help you prepare for your Ordeals. For now though, you should all head inside and make yourselves at home. Tomorrow you have the day to yourselves. In two days you will begin your training week." He finished speaking before turning to walk away. The trainers with us gestured for us to enter the Pokemon Center before they left in different directions, probably overjoyed dropping dead weight off.

As we entered the building we found ourselves in a small room with a large desk at the end. Around the room we could see six doors leading to other rooms. Behind the desk sat a middle aged woman wearing a trainer badge. "Welcome prospective trainers, to the Pokemon Center. My name is Annabelle. I am the night manager of this Pokemon Center," she said. "This Center will be your new home as you begin your new lives as Pokemon trainers. Follow me and I will show you around."

She approached us and led the way into the room to the right of the Center entrance. The room was filled with computers. Next to each computer was a small machine, each machine having six round slots in it. There was a handful of trainers in the room. Some of the small machines in front of the trainers held one or more pokeballs in the slots.

"This here is the computer room," Annabelle said. "These computers have several different uses for trainers. Aside from being able to use the Net like any other computer, they possess a direct link to the mission office in central district. You can use that link to view available missions that you may be eligible for and accept any missions that you desire. Some of the missions are available for several trainers, others can only be chosen by one trainer or a small team of trainers."

She pointed to one of the small slotted machines. "Next to each computer is a device that has three primary uses. First, the device works with the Pokedex app on the computer. This app allows you to view all that stats of the Pokemon within the pokeballs you place in the slots. Second, the device has a transport feature. This feature breaks down pokeballs into computer code and sends the code to your trainer account storage on the Net.

You may keep Pokemon stored for future use or you can trade or sell any of your captured Pokemon to trainers here or any other city state in the region. Finally, the device acts as a healing machine which can fully recover any of your injured Pokemon back to fighting condition."

I was wondering how that worked; I mean, think about it. A device that can fully recover any injured Pokemon, no matter how bad, back to fighting condition. If so, hypothetically, if I train a Pokemon into the ground, similarly as I would while trying to build my body at the gym, would those healed muscles come back better, bigger and stronger. If I supplied all the nutrients for the Pokemon to get back to tip top shape, only to once again be driven into the ground, what will happen? Does it heal the muscles of pokemon back together to its previous state? Or does the body regenerate based on the knowledge of twenty-first century biology. Food for thought.

She led us out of the computer room and walked us over to the room across from it. The door to this room was locked. She took out some keys and unlocked the door, allowing us in. This room looked like a small convenience store. There were aisles with shelves filled with various items. Next to the entrance was a table that had a register on it. Behind the register was a locked glass case that had shelves filled with pokeballs.

"This is the Pokemart," Annabelle said. "This is where trainers buy the basic supplies that they need to train Pokemon and go on missions. The Pokemart is open each day from 8AM to 5PM. After that, if you absolutely need to buy any items that you may need for a mission, you must speak to me at the front desk so I can let you into the Mart to purchase items. Keep in mind that I will only open Mart after hours if there is a valid reason."

She led us out of the Pokemart and locked the door behind us. We then entered the room next to the Mart. The room was filled with chairs and couches. There were some television sets on the walls and two pool tables at the end. There were only two trainers in the room at one of the pool tables.

"This is the Lounge. Trainers may come here to relax in between missions. This room is open at all hours. No food or drinks are allowed in here. No fighting or Pokemon battles are permitted in the Lounge. If you start any trouble in here or break any of the rules, you will be banned from the Lounge for a set amount of time. You have been warned."

We entered the room across from the Lounge. "This is the cafeteria. Like the Pokemart, this room is open from 8AM to 5PM. All trainers are entitled to one free meal a day. After that, any further meals must be paid using your funds from your trainer accounts. If you miss the open hours due to being on a mission, I will be able to open the room for you to receive a meal. For any other reason you are on your own for meals. Food may be taken out of the cafeteria but remember, no food or drink in the Lounge. That goes for the computer room as well."

She led us back to the front office and pointed out the last two doors on either side of the front desk. "Those last two doors lead to the Center barracks. On the right is the male barracks and the left is for females. Each barrack has over a dozen bunk beds for trainers to sleep in. These is a storage area filled with lockers and well as a large bathroom for public use. At the end of the barracks are small laundry rooms which you may use freely to clean your clothes. All trainers may use the barracks at no charge. However, we have a limited supply of beds and storage room for each trainer. Luckily, there are only a small number of trainers staying here so we did not have to boot anyone out to make room for you four."

Annabelle turned to look at us. "This will be your home for the foreseeable future. Tomorrow you all have the day to yourselves to become acclimated to the district. The next five days are for you to prepare yourselves for your Ordeals to become official trainers. Work hard to pass your Ordeals. Once you become official trainers you will be eligible to take missions to earn some income for yourselves."

She paused. "Take this advice from someone who has been in your shoes. Start taking missions as soon as possible and find a room to rent in one of the residential buildings. The Center barracks are well kept but there is absolutely no privacy here. Most of the rooms for rent are cheap enough for you to afford with the pay of a single low level mission. It's a small price to pay for some privacy."

She moved behind the desk and picked up four small packs. There were three blue packs and one pink pack. "These have some basic supplies for you. A few clothes and some toiletries to get you started. You may contact your families and have them send over some items from your old homes if you wish."

She handed us each a pack and said, "today has been a long day for you. I know you must all be tired or hungry by now. I'll let you go get settled in. If any of you want to eat then stay here. The rest of you may enter the barracks and get some rest."

Ginnette immediately left the group and entered her respective barracks. Hugo, Jacob and I chose to remain with Annabelle. "Well," she said. "Let's get some food in you boys." She led us back into the cafeteria, a well maintained but army designed room and motioned us to sit at a table. "I will be right back," she said as she entered the kitchen. Moments later, she returned with three trays and set them down in front of us. "Once you finish eating, drop the trays off in the kitchen and leave the cafeteria. I'll lock up afterwards." Annabelle then left us three to our respective meals and returned to the front desk.

Hugo immediately dug into the meal once we were alone. I looked at the food on the tray. There honestly wasn't much to look at, but in an apocalypse themed universe, the plate in front of me even being free, is and always will be paradise for most. In front of me, on the tray was a sandwich, one of those nice fruit cup's people usually have for lunch, and a carton of milk.

Like I mentioned before, you can survive on it, we get one of these meals a day for free. Something to keep us alive, but not enough to thrive on. A small motivation to get our ass working for the little privileges newly chosen took for granted.

I began slowly eating the food on my tray. After a moment Jacob finally broke the silence between us. "Hugo and Cipher right?'' asked.

"Yep," he replied without looking up. And I just nodded not even making eye contact with him, It's nothing personal, I just have a weird outlook towards strangers, If your a complete stranger, someone I would walk by and may never see again, just don't talk to me, and be a waste of my time. If it's a girl I may be interested in, your welcome to strike up a conversation and maybe something may happen, who knows. If we are going to be working together, I will be at the most neutral, until I find myself enjoying your company, and if I don't, I will still act neutral until a situation where you piss me off changes my attitude.

Regardless, I will always act on my self interest, however; I will never shove you off a cliff if my interest happens to involve you, unless provoked. It's just easier for me to be cynical half and if not all the time.

What a wonderful word, the perfect description. 'Cynical'.

"My name is Jacob," he said.

"We know," Hugo stated taking a glance at me, seeing me nod once again he quickly began to devour what was left of his small meal.

Jacob just looked at us for a moment before speaking again. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you two volunteer for this? Not many people actually want to become Pokemon trainers, and not many people would volunteer for another, even if he was a friend" he ended, looking directly at me, I stare back, directly back into his eyes; looking as if I could see his soul making him lower his eyes in return.

Hugo explains first to Jacob. "It's better than the alternative."

"What do you mean?'"

Hugo slouched down in his chair and stared at the table for a moment before looking at me and then to Jacob, alternating from face to face; maybe to see if we are interested in what he has to say.

He gestured to himself. "Look at me. What do you guys think of me when you both saw me today in the courtyard? Lower class right? Most likely from District Nine? Am I right?"

"You're right," Jacob admitted, I continued to listen in silence, not a word spoken.

"Well, anyone who thought that after seeing me today would be correct. I do live in District Nine. Or I did until today anyway," he corrected himself. "My mom, two sisters and I lived in a small one bedroom apartment in the cheapest residential building in the district. It was all we could afford on her income."

He gestured to Jacob. "Based on your clothes and how you carry yourself I would guess you were middle class. You old home was in District Six right?"

"Right," Jacob said. Hitting the nail right on the head.

He followed up with gesturing to me."And given your look, your clothes and the way _YOU _carry yourself I would guess you were middle-upper class. Your old home was District Three right.

"Yea" I respond for the first time, taking another bite on my sandwich, I bring my attention back to what he was saying

He nodded. "You probably looked down at your tray and I bet both of you guys first thought was about how unappetizing or unfilling it looked. You're used to three square meals a day and snacks throughout the day if you get hungry."

Jacob responded in silence. There was nothing to say, he had him pegged dead to rights. Not wanting to be grouped I speak, "No, my first thought to our meal was how generous they are. The amount of food needed to be supplied to the trainers district would be immense. But then again, they can't be _that _generous if they're _Heroes _are only supplied this." I finish sarcastically.

Humans being _generous, _what a joke. But then again it's enough to survive and if you train hard, you could earn more quicker. But then again, this _Job _comes with risks.

They both started to stare at me in surprise, given that I am younger than both of them, I can't imagine them thinking that I could say something that could make so much sense given, both my age and where I come from.

Hugo gestured to our trays. "This meal was on par with or even better than anything my mom could put together each day. We normally ate only once a day. Twice a day if my mom came into a little extra income. There were some days that we didn't eat at all. For my family, life is a constant struggle for survival."

He sat back and contemplated the ceiling. "It wasn't always like that for my family. I was actually born in District Four. My father was a team leader for one Asidia's mining companies. Three times a week a team of Pokemon trainers would escort my father and his crew to one of the northern mines to mine the ores and gems that cannot be produced within the city state. The trainers took care of any wild Pokemon they came across and watched over the miners while they worked. My father supervised all the work done. Because the work was outside the walls, the mining company paid very well due to the high risk. As a team leader, my father brought in enough income to maintain our position in the upper middle class, even with my mom not working."

He looked down at the table again. "All of that changed when I was nine years old. One day my father and his crew set out to the caves they were currently mining from, not realizing that a large group of wild Pokemon had settled in the caves since the last time the crew had been out there. They were attacked soon after entering the caves."

"I remember that," Jacob said interrupting Hugo. "A large group of Aron and Lairon led by a mated pair of Aggron attacked some miners that entered their territory six years ago. The hired trainers did their best to drive off the wild Pokemon but their trained Pokemon were greatly outnumbered. In the end, the best they could do was try to hold back the wild Pokemon and give the miners a chance to escape and retreat to the city state. Most of the crew and trainers didn't make it."

"My father was one of the casualties," he said. "He always took his responsibility as team leader seriously. One survivor told my mother that my father was brought down by an Aggron as he was trying to help an injured miner get back to the city. He died a hero."

He looked at both of us with anger in his eyes. "He may have died a so called hero, but that did nothing for my family. Because my mother did not work, we did not have too much savings as my father supported us on just his income. Those savings quickly ran out and we began to fall into debt. The only job my mom was able to find was as a street cleaner, working every night to keep the streets that I grew up in clean. She had no choice but to sell off almost everything we owned to pay off the debts and took what little was left and moved us to district nine."

He paused for a moment. "Even after all that happened, do you know what upset me the most at the time was? Even more than actually losing my father?"

"What?" we both asked.

"A week after the massacre in the mines, the company my father worked for hired elite Pokemon trainers to clear out the mines of the wild Pokemon. The day after that, they sent another crew to begin mining where my father's crew left off. Never mind the fact that a week ago my father and most of his crew was killed because the company sent them to that mine without sending some trainers to inspect it first and, if necessary, clear out any wild Pokemon. They only cared about restarting the mining operations."

"I'm sorry," Jacob said.

He turned to glare at Jacob. "Why are you apologizing to me. None of what happened was your fault. My father and his crew knew the risks that came with going outside the walls. If anyone should apologize for it, it should be the mining company. If they had just done their job right, my father might still be alive today. It was not your fault!"

We all stayed silent for several minutes after that last outburst. Finally, I asked him, "after everything you just told us, why would you choose to become a Pokemon trainer? Given how your father died, I would have imagined that you would want to stay far away from any Pokemon as possible."

"You're right," he said after a few seconds. "My first four Selection Days, all I could think about was my father and what happened to him six years ago. I was terrified of being chosen and being forced to work with those monsters."

"What changed today?" I asked.

"At first, I was as terrified today as I was the other times. All I could think about was that I just had to make it through the day and then I could get on with my life. But as I listened to the governor's speech a thought occurred to me."

"What thought?"

"I thought to myself, 'could being a Pokemon trainer be any worse that the life I have now?' I'm just a low class teen with little prospects. It's easy to drop to a lower class but much harder to rise up to a higher one. I didn't have much to look forward to. At least as a trainer I could earn a decent income. Hell, if I can make it to one of the higher ranks, the pay for just one mission at that rank could equal or exceed what my mother makes in a week. I would only have to complete two or three missions a week to live comfortably. I could even send money to my mother to help support my sisters."

He sat up in his chair. "All of these thoughts ran through my head as the governor finished her speech. When the Gym Leader asked for volunteers, I only hesitated for a moment. You know what happened next."

Jacob nodded to himself. "That's some story. After everything you just told me, I think that I would have done the same thing if I had been in your shoes."

"I'm sure you would have," he said. "If for no other reason that to try to help support your family. I saw what you did today. Volunteering in your brother's place, that just shows how much your family means to you. That took some guts."

"I couldn't let Bobby go through this," Jacob said. "He wouldn't survive his Ordeal."

"Maybe, maybe not." he responded. "We'll probably never know now."

"And what about you, Cipher right; why did you volunteer in that kids place." there was a moment's pause before their direct attention was on me. "Everyone could tell that he wasn't anything much to you, and we all saw the look of disbelief on that dudes face, was he your best friend or something?"

Giving them both a hard look, i make a light sigh, "No, he wasn't my best friend, hell that kid; Phillip, he wasn't even my friend" i state getting a frown from Hugo and an astonished look from Jacob. "Than why'd you volunteer" Jacob follows up.

"I did it for a variety of reasons, but ill only name a few; Like I said before, his name was Phillip, we lived in separate distriks, I lived in three and he lived in four. But like a select few, his parents thought it would have been a better idea, if they sent him to a school in a different district. My district."

I breath out before saying,"the prejudice against a person's family whose income is lower than your's or the majority in the area is as you would expect to be, it's not an uncommon occurrence and it happens. So at the time _me and my past friends_ thought it would have been a great idea to shove these facts in his face and a few other things we teased him about, it started out as just the little things, like most things do and it just spiraled. It got to the point that whenever I saw him, I would think _'he has such a punchable face,' _so in short I was a bully. But one of the biggest reasons as to why I volunteered"

Pausing, I take a long look at their focused faces and say "he wouldn't have made it past the first week, and that's not just a fact, that's reality. As for me, I know I'll not only survive but I will thrive" I state with as much truth as I could muster. "So it was guilt, he doesn't deserve to die outside, away from home, the kid needs a life, so I gave him one"

They faces show just how shocked they are, especially at my speech, and the way I presented it. It just goes to show how mature I am now, compared to the rest.

"But like I said, it was just a bit of why I volunteered in his place, there are a few other reasons, but ill reserve those to secrecy for now." They just nod again, showing that they are still processing what I have just said.

I peek at their faces trying to get a read on their emotions, their faces showed nothing negative, it was just thoughtful. Alright I guess.

Time, trickles by as we sit in relative peace that lasts until Hugo stood up "Well, I'm beat. Been a long day for the three of us. I'm going to go find an empty bed and get some sleep. You should do the same."

"Yea, I'll follow and get some shut eye" following him I stand up to take a glance at Jacobs response

"I will," he said. "I just want to sit by myself for a bit."

"Alright," we said. "I'll leave you alone. See you tomorrow. Night." Hugo finishes.

"Goodnight," Jacob responded.

we left him alone in the cafeteria. Making my way over to my bunk for the relative future, I lay my head and try to get some shut-eye, Tomorrow is a new day.

We had the day after Selection Day to ourselves. We were told to explore the trainer district and become acclimated with it. Ginnette chose to remain in the Pokemon Center barracks. she only left the barracks once to eat their free meal before returning to her beds.

I got up to take a shower, and to get a good look at myself; I stand at approximately 5 foot 2, An angular face which is on the chubbier side, a clean face with a beauty mark, to the left of my lips. Black hair that reaches to my shoulders, piercing blue eyes, as blue as the oceans. I could see myself, growing into a charmer, and with the amount of training I would be doing, I could almost see my future self.

Stepping in, I turn the tap, giving me a chance to just breath, and realign myself with my goals. What i'm going to do now till my ordeal, leaving a bit of room for improv' and add what I may need later.

Another thing I gotta do is confront my family, I could already imagine being disowned. Given my past outlook you could imagine my influence growing up. My father, is an undecided variable and not a reliable one either. My soon to be _past _family, is apart of what would have been my old worlds one percent, rich enough to be included but not enough to stand their as firmly as others. And that was all thanks to one man, my father. _My _father's, father; opened and ran a few restaurants during his hay day, so you could imagine the wealth that he had accumulated, which was the foundation _my father_ used to build it into what he has today.

A multi-millionaire dollar chain of restaurants, ranging all over the region. But one of the things I have to mention is how my mother is just one of the few women my father has married. Yea laws are a bit shaky due to the reclamation of land and the rebuilding we have to do, which gives people leeway to indulge, however there are still laws in place that are used to protect those families in _wealth_, allowing the mother and her children financial support. Enough support for my mother to never have to work another day and for us to have a stable home in District three.

_I have two younger brothers _and _one elder sister _besides my mother, I'm not sure of the amount of _step-siblings _I have, but I know those families are spread throughout the region, where my father travels most of his time, only arriving here when he's passing through, mostly to fuck my gold digger of a mother. Maybe a few passing words here and there.

I'm not fussed about having a gold-digger for a mother, the world spins around and I know how it works, but it doesn't mean i'm not going to state facts just because they hurt your feelings.

As I mentioned before, my father is apart of the one percent; meaning that his prejudices against trainers are significantly lesser to what the common civilians are. Why? It's because he knows how the world goes around. And I could only assume he knows where true power is held.

I finished my shower, drying myself and getting dressed, I prepare myself to face my mother, I could already predict the outcome, but nevertheless. any mother, regardless of the situation needs to decide the direction of our relationship, especially now. And any _son_, regardless of whether I am him or not, deserves to know how far their family would go to fight for them, or if they would even fight in the first place.

I just went into the computer room, uncaring if there are others nearby and placed myself onto an empty computer desk to place my call. My mother answered the call. "How dare you, How dare you have the nerve to slap your family's name and smear it into the ground by volunteering" she screeched, 'predictable' I think, bringing my pinky up to my ear to do one of those comical anime scenes. Bringing that pinky up to my finger and blow, I listen to whatever my _mother _has to say. "Your just lucky, I am in my right to send you all your stuff"

Shit didn't think she'd even do that to be honest, she blabbered a lot of things about how the other mothers and her _friends _are talking about me, after only a single night, "And if you haven't noticed already, your not welcome anywhere near this family" she seethed. Finally able to say my piece I start to speak, "and what did he say" I refer to my father, my mother acts clueless in response, "Don't play dumb with me, I know you would have told him, I'm even willing to bet that's the first thing you did as soon as you saw me volunteer" surprised at my guess she asks "And how did you know", I just respond telling her that she tells him everything about anything to stay in his good graces.

She looks at me, almost unwilling to speak. "He told me to send you this money, said you might need it" she gnashes out in hate, I get a notification saying 5000 credits were deposited into my account, giving her a hard look i speak again "all of it" looking again at my account I see another 2500 credits deposited, before I immediately smash my hand onto the table holding everything. A second later another ping rings out with another 2500 credits being deposited.

My mother gives me a face, maybe comparing what I just did to robbing everything _she ever owns _from her and disconnects the call.

I know that if I never asked about him, she would have never spoken a word about the credits, I notice the silence around me, and realize that the entire room heard the conversation. Most would be embarrassed, but most people aren't me, most people don't know that for the many others in the room, that single conversation must've been the same and if not worse.

I wandered around the buildings in the district for a while to see if I missed anything yesterday. So far I haven't spotted anything new. The Gym and magnet train station stood at either end of the group of buildings. Near the station stood the Center. In between those buildings were a handful of residential buildings. No shops, no food stores or clothing stores.

"I guess what we can't get from the Center we'll have to go to one of the other districts to purchase," I thought. "Good thing the magnet train is free for trainers to use. I'll get tired of the Center meals quickly."

I decided to get a better look at the training grounds. They were obviously man-made sectioned environments simulating the wilds. Some of the grounds were large and could be used by several trainers. Others were small and meant for single trainer use. These were areas which simulated grasslands, marshlands, lakes, forests, rocky fields, hills, mountains and even a couple of desert fields. I stayed away from the fields that had trainers working with their Pokemon, I observed their training sessions to glean on some of the personal workouts and compare them to my theorised one, not really impressed with what I've seen I continue on.

After a while of wandering I came across Hugo in one of the larger training grounds that had a man-made lake going through it. He was staring out at the water.

Since I've spent most of my day, observing the training grounds, which gave me time to think about some things I could do to improve some of the training sessions I can think of for my future pokemon I head back to the centre, keen on gettin my one free meal and head to sleep since its nearly 11:30pm.

I could've used credits to buy a more fulfilling meal at the centre, however; I want to save them for now, and capitalize to what i'll need, because i know i'm never going to be getting credits like this in a long time.

The next morning the four of us were woken up early at and taken to the computer room. The room was empty except for an old trainer waiting patiently.

"Take a seat," he said.

We all sat down at a different computer station and looked at him. The old trainer passed out small notebooks and pens to each of us.

"My name is Maxwell Dean. I am a B-rank Pokemon trainer born and raised here in Asidia," he said. "Yesterday you all had the day to yourselves to get used to the idea of being Pokemon trainers. Today is the day that you officially begin your training week. Over the next five days we will help prepare you for your new futures as Pokemon trainers. On the sixth day is when you will have to take your Ordeals. You will have to pass these Ordeals in order to become official Pokemon trainers. Take any notes you feel are important and don't be afraid to ask questions."

He paused. "First, I'll begin with the topic that I'm sure you all have stuck in your minds, your Ordeals. After the Cataclysm, when the League and city states decided to institute the Selection Day policy, the chosen trainers were given starter Pokemon as the new trainers were given on Pre-Cataclysm trainer days. Unfortunately, the League did not take into account the viciousness that even small and weak Pokemon now exhibited as a result of the Cataclysm. Even the supposedly tamed starter Pokemon could turn on their inexperienced trainers if they felt that the trainer was weak. The Ordeals came about as a result of this."

He paused to stare at each of us. "After much deliberation, the League instituted a new policy in regards to prospective Pokemon trainers. Instead of being given a starter Pokemon, the prospective trainers would have to go out into the wilds, without an escort, and attempt to catch a wild Pokemon. They would then have to tame this Pokemon themselves. That Pokemon would then be their official starter."

Ginnette spoke up at this point. "Why would they do that?" she asked. "Wouldn't it be better to just give prospective trainers a starter and help them tame it? The odds of surviving in the wilds and catching a wild Pokemon without help are extremely slim."

"And that is why the League felt that the Ordeal was the best course of action to take." he replied. "They felt that the Ordeal would prove to them and the new trainers that they could handle the dangers of taking missions. As a Pokemon trainer, you may have to take missions that require you to leave the city state and go beyond the walls. While you may team up with other trainers in order to complete missions, this would require you to split the pay with any other trainers you team up with. Unless the mission is very high risk, most high rank trainers choose to solo their missions and claim all the money for themselves."

"As for why they couldn't help the new trainers tame their starters," he continued. "The League understood that the Pokemon would not respect and listen to their trainers if they needed help from more experienced trainers. This would increase the likelihood of the Pokemon turning on their trainers and attacking them. They felt that the trainers themselves had to struggle through the taming process in order to become real Pokemon trainers."

"And that is how the Ordeal came to be," he said. "While the civilians all felt that the League should go back to the old methods of Pokemon training, the League knew that these methods were needed in order to prepare new trainers for their new risky lives." He paused. "Make no mistake. The Ordeal is no walk in the park. Every year we send out a group of prospective trainers out into the wilds. There have been very few years that all the prospective trainers made it back to the city state alive. Some years none of them made it back at all."

Everyone besides me in the room paled after hearing this. Ginnette looked like she was about to break down again. Ginnette finally spoke up.

"What happens if we return to the city state without a captured Pokemon?" she asks.

"Those of you who fail your Ordeal but make it back to the city state alive will be sent out the next day to try again. You will continue to go out every day until you return with a Pokemon or don't return at all," he said grimly. The room descended into chilling silence as he let that sit in.

"You must all work hard for the next five days to prepare for your Ordeals," he continued. "I would really hate to be the one to tell your families that their children were most likely eaten by Pokemon in the wilds."

Maxwell continued to lecture us for a few hours. He spoke about trainer basics and what we needed to know about common items that trainers used. He explained how to use Pokemon medicine such as potions and antidotes. Finally, he went over the most important item used by Pokemon trainers, the pokeball.

"This is a pokeball," he said after he pulled one out of his pocket. "This device is used by all trainers to capture and store their Pokemon. While inside the pokeballs, Pokemon are put into a state of suspended animation where they can rest and even slowly heal from any injuries they acquire. Keep in mind that the pokeball's healing process is extremely slow. The devices next to the computers in front of you greatly speed up that healing process so your Pokemon can recover from even life threatening injuries within minutes."

"You should all note that while the pokeball provides rest and heals you Pokemon, it cannot provide sustenance. Once a day you should let the Pokemon out of the pokeball and provide them food. Any Pokemon that you may have in the computer storage system should be taken out at least once a week for the same purpose." He dropped the pokeball in front of him and released the Pokemon inside. As the Pokemon began to materialize, Hugo, Jacob and Ginnete jumped up and moved to the other side of the room.

I stayed in my seat and gazed with hidden fascination. Graveler, evolved form of geodude, most would overlook the commonly seen pokemon. But I wouldn't mind having him in my champion pool, The evolved form of graveler, Golem is a powerhouse in its own right, a very useful Pokemon to have on hand.

"Graveler," the Pokemon grunted. The Pokemon looked like a large boulder with a face carved out in front. It had two legs and four arms sticking out of its body.

"Sit down," Maxwell said. "He won't attack you. Unless I order him to," he added as the others slowly sat back down in front of him.

This was the first time I have seen a Pokemon up close, I saw a few weaker Pokemon trainers, traininers lazily training their Pokemon, with only a few who stood out and took it to a level above, but like the others they weren't as impressive from what I hope I could do.

My heart was beating at a rapid pace as I stared at the Graveler. I could see Hugo staring at the Pokemon with an odd look on his face. Ginnette looked ready to pass out any second now as Jacob tried to peek at everyones reactions.

"This is my Graveler, Granite," Maxwell said. "He was the Pokemon that I caught on my Ordeal. Of course, back then he was just a small Geodude. Geodude is a dual Ground and Rock type Pokemon commonly found in the caves and on the mountains just north of the city state." He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a fist-sized rock. He handed the rock the Pokemon who proceeded to eat it.

"As I mentioned before, you should release your Pokemon at least once a day to give them food. This is very important as even tame Pokemon you have had for a while may turn on you if they get hungry enough." The Graveler finished his meal and turned to look at his trainer. When he saw that no more food was coming he sat down and just stared at us.

"The Pokemart sells dry Pokemon food for different varieties of Pokemon. If you can't afford to get some food or if you have Pokemon that refuse to eat the dry Pokemon food, you will have to take your Pokemon outside the walls were they can hunt or forage for their food. Luckily for us, trainers may come and go from the city state at will. At our own risk of course," he said.

"Other then releasing your Pokemon to feed," he said, "you obviously have to release your Pokemon while you are training them. If you don't work on training your Pokemon at least once a week, it won't grow stronger. If it doesn't grow stronger, it won't be able to use strong attacks and will not eventually evolve. You should also consider releasing your Pokemon once in a while so it can relax outside of its pokeball. This may help your Pokemon become more loyal to you. Keep all this in mind."

"The last two items I would like to cover are trainer ranks and missions," he said. "While none of you are technically civilians anymore, neither are you considered official Pokemon trainers until you pass your Ordeal. As such, you possess no trainer ranks. Once you return from your Ordeals with a captured Pokemon you will officially become E-rank trainers. There are six trainer ranks. The low ranks are the E-rank and D-rank trainers. The middle ranks are the C-rank and B-rank trainers. Finally we have the higher ranks, the A-rank and S-rank trainers. The A-rank trainers are more commonly known as elite trainers. The S-rank trainers are the Pokemon Masters. All Gym Leaders and high ranking League officials are either elite or master trainers. While some trainers get stuck in the lower ranks, most make it to the middle ranks and go no further."

"How many Pokemon a trainer is allowed to own depends on their rank," he said. "E-rank trainers may own a maximum of two Pokemon. One of these Pokemon you may keep with you at all times, however, the second Pokemon must remain in the computer storage system. This is to ensure that trainers never have more Pokemon than they can handle on them at a time. As you go up in rank, the number of Pokemon you may own goes up by two. With each additional rank, trainers may keep one more Pokemon on their person then they could at the previous rank. So a D-rank trainer may have a maximum of four Pokemon but may only have two Pokemon with them at any given time. The pokeballs themselves keep track of this system. If you are a D-rank trainer and you capture a third Pokemon, that pokeball will remain sealed shut. You will not be able to release the Pokemon within until you store one of your other Pokemon in the storage system."

"Trainers are allowed to take any missions that are their rank or one rank lower. A trainer may only go out on a mission one rank higher if they are teamed up with a trainer of the appropriate rank. Missions are classed as either D, C, B, A or S rank based on the mission difficulty," he continued.

Jacob interrupted at this point. "If there are no E-rank missions," he said, "how are we supposed to sign up for missions once we pass our Ordeals and reach E-rank?"

"You don't," he responded. "E-rank trainers are not allowed on missions, even if they are accompanied by a higher ranking trainer. Before you may begin taking missions, you must each earn a promotion into the D-rank." He let that sit in for a moment. "Fortunately for you, it is relatively easy to be promoted into D-rank. In order to reach D-rank, you must each prove to the Gym Leader that the Pokemon you caught will obey your commands and attack on command. In other words, you must first tame your Pokemon and prove it will protect you out in the wilds. Once you have proven that, the Gym Leader will promote you to D-rank and you may start taking D-rank missions."

"E-rank is the proving grounds for all rookie trainers. It's where you show us whether you can become real Pokemon trainers or become wash-outs who must try to survive on whatever scraps we throw your way. Trainers may only retire from taking missions after being active for 20 years. After that, you may apply for a position here in the trainer district or in the mission office in central district. Unfortunately for you, once chosen on Selection Day, you may never apply for a civilian position. With all of that in mind, I hope you all understand the importance of being able to successfully tame your first Pokemon. If, for any reason, you can't tame your first Pokemon, you may request to retake your Ordeal. Your first Pokemon will then either be put down or put to work if it can be of use to the city state." He looked around at us. "I hope you will succeed in taming your first Pokemon. It would be a damn shame if you made it back from your first Ordeal only to not return from the second."

He looked at the clock on the wall. "Let's end this lecture right here. I'll be available to you all up until your Ordeals if you have any questions. Most other trainers in the district will also offer advice if asked. Over the next few days, you should make good use of the Pokedex app on these computers. Familiarize yourselves with all of the Pokemon that are commonly found around Asidia. Also look up which of these Pokemon are easier to catch than others and where they are most likely to be found. As a general rule, evolved Pokemon cannot be caught without weakening first so you should avoid these Pokemon on your Ordeals. Your target Pokemon should be small and young unevolved Pokemon that can't put up much fight when they are sucked into the pokeball."

He wished us luck and left the room. This time Ginnette did not go straight to the barracks upon being dismissed. We all opened the Pokedex app on their computers and began looking up information on Pokemon.

Only five days to prepare to enter the wilds for our Ordeals. It was time for us to get to work.

The remaining days leading up to our Ordeals passed by quickly. The four of us could mostly be found in the Center computer room reading every bit of information we could find about the Pokemon around Asidia. Maxwell came to the Center every day to give us more lectures and advice. When we were not in the Center we could be found talking to some of the older trainers in the district. Some of the trainers readily answered any questions we asked of them. Others did not bother to hide their annoyance at us for interrupting them.

One of the middle ranked trainers advised us to study a trainer map of Asidia and the wilds surrounding the city state. Everyone besides me had immediately followed that advice and acquired a map from the Center's front office, when I was asked why I wasn't doing it, I responded with 'I already have'. On studying the map, I found that the city state had four gates leading out at roughly all four major cardinal points. The eastern and southern gates both opened to grasslands. The western gate leads to a dense forest. Finally, the northern gate leads the way to the mountain range where Asidia mines for ore and precious stones. The map also showed what Pokemon a trainer is most likely to encounter in all four directions. Based on the map, the forest would be the most dangerous area to enter, followed by the mountains then the grasslands. This left us wondering which gate we would be forced to leave on our Ordeals from. I already knew where the other _chosen_ would all choose to go so I planned and planned.

The day of the Ordeal finally came. We were woken up early and taken to the cafeteria. We were told to eat quickly then head out to the station when we were ready. Hugo, Jacob and I dug into our food right away. Ginnette just stared at their food for a while. Eventually Ginnette stood up without having touched her food and informed the rest of us that she would be heading to the station. Hugo wasted no time and took Ginnette's tray and proceeded to eat her food as I snatched the sandwich out of his hands. There was another tray left out by a random trainer that dtill had all his food on it, I took his fruit, since I knew how Jacob would use the sandwich.

Once the three of us were done we dropped the trays off and headed for the station. There we found Ginnette, Gym Leader Muliere, and some other trainers waiting for us. One trainer held a small box in her hands. Behind the Leader was a small table with four backpacks on top. Muliere began speaking as soon as we reached them.

"Now that you're all here we can begin your Ordeals," he said. He gestured to the table behind him. "These backpacks behind me each possess several items that you can use on your Ordeals. The backpacks all possess the same items so there is no reason to fight over any of them. I will give you 30 minutes to go through the packs and familiarize yourselves with what they contain. Begin now."

We each grabbed one pack and began going through them. The bags contained some travel rations and water. There was a hunting knife and some rope. There was a small bottle of Repel spray. There was also a small case that held ten small bottles. Five of the bottles contained basic Potion. The other five bottles contained different liquids. There was one each of Antidote, Paralyze Heal, Awakening, Burn Heal, and Ice Heal. Each bottle held about three doses of the liquids. While these medicines are meant to be used on Pokemon, they can be used on humans as well.

After 30 minutes, Muliere began speaking again. "It's time to head to the gates that you will be leaving the city state from. Since there are four of you this year, I've decided that you each will leave from a separate gate. I will let you decide which gate you will leave from yourselves. You may decide based on the order that you were chosen on Selection Day." He turned to look at Hugo. "Choose your gate."

Hugo hesitated for only a moment. "I pick the north gate," he said, surprising them all. they all looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Why the north gate?" Jacob asked Hugo. "The grasslands are less dangerous than the mountains." I studied him for a moment and noticed a determined glint in his eyes. "Unless, this has something to do with his father."

Muliere nodded to Hugo. "Very well. North gate it is." He turned to me. "Your turn. Choose your gate."

Not missing a beat I responded, "I also want to go through the North gate" everyone was shocked by my decision. Spotting the Gym Leader Muliere about to refuse my request, I add without a moment of hesitation, "If there were more of us, wouldn't it be possible to choose the same gate?"

Muliere, taken slightly off guard at the question, "I'll allow you to through that gate, but I'll like to warn the both of you to be careful"

Muliere turned to Ginnette next. She spoke up without prompting. "I'll take the southern gate," she said quickly.

Muliere nodded to her. "Very well," he said. He then turned to Jacob. "That leaves you the eastern or western gate."

"western gate"

Muliere continued. "In a moment you will all board the magnet train where you will be escorted to your respective gates by one of these trainers. Once you reach the gates, you will head out on your own to attempt to catch your first Pokemon." He motioned for the trainer holding the box to move forward. "Inside this box are 12 pokeballs. You will each take three of the pokeballs from inside." The trainer moved to each of us and allowed us to take our allotted pokeballs.

"You will use these three pokeballs to attempt to catch your first Pokemon. Keep in mind that these pokeballs are unregistered to any trainers. If you successfully catch a Pokemon you will be unable to release that Pokemon until it is registered to you. Once you capture a Pokemon you must return to the city state. At that point you will have completed your Ordeal."

"Why did you give us three pokeballs if we're only supposed to capture one Pokemon?" Hugo asked the Gym Leader.

"Two reasons," Muliere responded. "One, Pokemon are much more intelligent than you may believe. If you attempt and fail to catch a Pokemon it will immediately understand that the pokeball is the bigger threat at the moment. It will act quickly to destroy the pokeball before it launches its attack on you. You will have only seconds to throw another pokeball and attempt to catch it again or make a quick retreat and try a different Pokemon."

"The second reason has to do with how many Pokemon an E-rank trainer is allowed to own," he said. "As you know, once you pass your Ordeal and reach E-rank, you will be able to own a maximum to two Pokemon. If you do catch a Pokemon and still have one or two pokeballs left over, you may make an attempt to catch a second Pokemon to fill the maximum allowed. If, by some miracle, you manage to catch three Pokemon, you may select which two Pokemon you can keep. We will deal with the third Pokemon after that." He paused. "Take my advice. Once you catch a Pokemon, forget about catching any more. Quit while you're ahead. Remember, if you run into something you cannot handle, you don't have any trainers or usable Pokemon to defend you."

"Any other questions?" he asked. We all shook our heads. "Then let's get this show on the road."

After Muliere dismissed us we boarded the magnet train along with our trainer escorts. We waited quietly as one by one we reached each of the stations near the different gates and waited for one of the other prospective trainers to disembark. I disembarked and we walked to the gate in silence. Once we reached the gate the trainer turned to us.

"From this point on you're on your own," he said. He motioned to one trainer guarding the gate. The other trainer nodded and opened the gate. The gate opened onto a short dirt road which led directly to the forest. "Be vigilant out there and keep a pokeball ready. Try not to get lost in there. Once you catch a Pokemon you should immediately try to make it back here. I'll be waiting for you here at the gate." He paused and looked at us. "If you haven't made it back by sundown I'll assume that you've been eaten by a Pokemon and return to the trainer district without you. Good luck."

Nodding towards the man, and with a quick "good luck" to Hugo, I depart from the city boundaries of Alasia, My current plan is to follow the main road, towards the rocky mountains, this path is consistently traveled on daily; by the use of mining companies who hire Trainers to guard them on their way to the site, they are then tasked as guards to guard the miners during excavation, and then tasked with guiding them safely during the return trip.

It's still early in the morning , we were awoken at , and during the week to prepare I've scouted the time schedule of a certain companies departure. The last known journey was at 6:30am right on the dot, so the journey towards my destination should still be relatively safe, this timing should allow me to save on my limited supply of Repel, an item I have deemed too important on this trip, something that could possibly get me out of the stickiest situations possible, that's why I bought an extra two can's before we prepared to headout.

A single can of repel, costs 100 credits. So if you could do the math, my account would have had 9800 credits, if I hadn't already had 1400 credits already, which means I have a remainder of 11,200 credits.

Similarly, I've come prepared wearing a long sleeve shirt, flexible shorts, and athletic shoes, all brand names, which brands are similarly unimportant at this moment.

The journey towards my marked destination is a 4 hour walk, anything could happen just getting there, but I'm really counting on this being a high traffic area, making Pokemon avoid it constantly.

You would think that I would be listening to music, something I would usually do when I went out jogging in my previous life, but here; that decision can very much cost you your life. You need all your senses on the lookout, with an already feeble defense, getting rid of your sense of sound is a death sentence.

'Crunch, Crunch' my footsteps are one of the few things you could hear, it's not very loud, I think you wouldn't even be able to hear it anywhere past the gravel road, the only sound besides that is the blowing wind, nearly an eerie silence. You could hear how the trees rustle and the bushes shake, each noise which was louder than the last, drags my attention from the previous spot and comes locks onto the place of the previous sound.

During my walk, I'm trying my best to be as aware as possible, not wanting to lose my life over something which could have been simply avoided, I might have previously looked and sounded confident, but what I knew then and now; is it's easy to let your guard down for just a moment during this ordeal, only for it all to be over in a second later. 'Rustle, rustle' bringing my sight to my right, I could spot a major flock of small birds that look like spearow, as soon as I thought spearow, I booked it as fast as I could, running in the middle of the road, debating on whether I should go into the forestry or not.

I could see pidgey smashing into the enemy flock. Deciding to just do what I'm doing, I run for my life. It's a scary moment like this that you hope that you could run like the Flash.

Looking back every few seconds, I see myself gaining distance away from the mayhem, towards the mountain ahead of me. Reducing my speed to a jog, I panted, trying to regulate my breathing for a quicker recovery.

Mount Iron, not a very creative name, but you could guess what this mountain houses, if you haven't guessed it; the answer is Iron. More specifically, Steel type, Rock type and ground type Pokemon, lets not forget the Pokemon that inhibit caves primarily, but you get the point. I'm searching for a very specific Pokemon that I know roams that mountain.

Aron, every Pokemon is powerful if trained right, but there are just types of Pokemon that scream power, and Aggron is definitely one of them.

Arriving at a deranging path I look towards one of the most worn out paths, a path that hasn't been used for a very long time, and I take a step, followed by another step down that path, down a new adventure. One of the few reasons I'm not going to go to the newer paths are because they would have been secured by the trainers, scaring, defeating or killing any Pokemon in their path driving them away in fear.

There is no doubt in my mind, that a few packs or herds of Pokemon are down those paths. But in order for them to be their in the first place they would have to be able to resist, and they would have to be strong. So in conclusion, those packs/herds would be at the top of the food chain in this area, monopolising the best resources for themselves in a newly dug mine or unexplored chasm.

However in the oldest mine would be the stragglers, some of the outcasts or younger Pokemon who have explored away from the pack and are just looking for untapped, unfound food.

The path is carved out around the edge of the cliff's, Looking down below, I could spot a few Pokemon dashing in the forest, too fast for my eyes to catch the species, coming to yet another intersection with two diverging paths; I look upon the path which leads further up the gigantic mountain. Letting out an audible 'gulp' I look upon the other path to see a small opening within the mountain, something I have been looking for.

Holding the repel within my hands, I turn into the opening as I bring my flashlight up, before coming face to face with a geodude who immediatly picks up a rock on sight, and mauls that fucking thing towards me, side steeping to the left, dodging with enough space that I'd be confident in replicating my success I wait for him to make the next move.

I could see a sheen overcome him 'defense curl' before he charges towards me 'tackle' taking an instant peek behind me, I walk till im just a step away from the declined cliff side, waiting for him to get in range, I turn to my left with a quick dodge which sends the geodude off the cliff caused by the momentum of his charge, making him roll to the bottom.

I just stood there as he rolled and rolled, 'haha' pretty funny, and a little too close for my liking, but it was a great start in my opinion.

I approach the cave, gathering my courage I reassess the entry, and shine a light on through, Hoping to catch the attention of a hidden geodude within the cave, to lure out like the previous.

Taking a deep breath in, I try to calm my heart which seemed to resemble a jack hammer at the moment, making a decision to sit down for a few minutes and wait for myself to settle down.

Only to make sure im at my best, for the safety of myself throughout this entire process, I keep reminding myself that this is do or die and I don't want to die. I'm not afraid of dying hence why I chose this location, especially since I have something to live for, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to go head first off a bridge. I've planned, I've prepared, I still have three entire cans of repel, my resources are in tip top shape, and I know I got this.

Walking through the entrance of the cave, I take an astonished look at my surroundings. I was beginning to think that I would have to go down a mine shaft, however I couldn't be more wrong. We came into a massive opening, I honestly wasn't expecting to find a naturally, ergo 'as naturally' formed cave.

Shining my flashlight around, I could see the unnatural indentations, an occurrence caused by digging, or eating in a Pokemons case. This was amazing, making my way further and further in.

Coming into an opening, I could hear my footsteps echo, just listening to the continuous echoes, you'd wonder how big this place really was, flashing up, my breath immediately hitches as I turn the thing off. I just held my breath, taking a few uncertain steps back the way I came, I take a second to think. If they wake up, chances are I'm dead, but its still 1:pm; so they should stay sound asleep as long as no ridiculous noise wakes them up, a noise like my echo.

A few rocks in the distance tumble, which causes another series of echoes. Backed up against the entrance towards the area, I pray to god they stay asleep with a repel in my left hand at the ready.

A few minutes pass in tense silence, rocks are moved inconsistently, however there have been some larger than normal echoes which have even caused the walls to vibrate, if the zubat above me haven't woken up from even those, it's safe to assume ill be safe down this path, as long as I'm careful.

I turn the brightness of my flashlight to a bare minimum, a brightness, that would still allow me to see in this darkened cave confidently.

I occasionally spot the odd few, dangling around, sleeping and just hitting the cave walls with a headbutt. I nearly laughed so hard at the ridiculous sight, close to giving my position away when I saw it the first time; they were probably training themselves.

Ninety percent of the Pokemon that I have managed to slip away from were mostly primary evolution's, pretty much baby stage pokemon. But I still didn't underestimate them based on their size. One of the things many don't know is that a single full sprint aron can play chicken with a truck and come out on top. An Aron can rip it to pieces in a full blown charge. You could only imagine the things they could do to surprise you.

'Ching, Ching, ching' a constant silent echo originated from up ahead, an isolated area that has walls filled with bite marks around the entire opening, 'probably eaten out portion of the cave, it's common knowledge that rock, ground a steel type can replenish themselves with rocks.' It has enough room for me to walk in without crouching. Observing the bite marks along the walls, I could immediately tell the difference by the size of chunks of earth ripped out from the wall, small and large marks are riddled all along. Pointing ahead, I come to s stop as I finally find my target; a Aron.

Seeing a few more of them, I feel around for a few rocks, picking up the smallest piece, I tap the cave wall beside me, trying to draw the closest Aron attention away from the rest. Having my flashlight face down; I retrace my way back as I listen in on the footsteps approaching me at a steady pace, I could tell that there is more than one of them and that there was at least three or less following the noise im making.

Luring them into the bigger section of the cave, there was some natural lighting giving me a bare minimum amount to see with, but it was enough.

As soon as they entered this section, I tossed the rock I had to a wall in front of them, luring them out into a bigger space, giving me a slight advantage in my plan. The three Aron stopped before the rock I had thrown, one of them bent down and ate it, while the other two looked to the left and to the right of them. Not bothering to check behind them where I was due to coming from that direction previously.

Catching the trio unprepared I lob, three pokeballs at all three of them, all hit their desired target, watching them get sucked in, I wait in trepidation. Come on, Come on, seconds tick by as I watch the pokeball's rock side to side.

The pokeball I had thrown at the Aron who had eaten my thrown rock ticks, just as the other two break out of their pokeballs. Without hesitation I sprint towards the caught Aron picking up his Pokeball, with my repel in my left hand I spray both Aron in the face as they attempt to destroy the pokeballs by smashing them with a headbutt.

'Aron, ron Ar' they screamed, not wanting to pull my luck any longer, I make a grab for the two empty pokeballs, and start running to the entrance of the cave, 'huh huh hu' I panted, making the least amount of noise possible during my sprint, shining my flashlight towards my previous path. 'LAIRON,' an echoing roar reverberates the walls as the roar's passes me.

'FUCK' the noise created by my footsteps are drowned out by the rushing noises of a _stampede _originating from behind. Jumping onto a geodude's head and using him as a boost I push past the majority of the cave, running for the life of me.

'ROAR' an intimidating roar wakes the residents in the cave as I'm nearly out, the sound of wings flapping behind and above me, signify the awake zubat; Knowing that zubat, dislikes any type of light, since it disorientates them, I try to ignore thoughts about my possible and maybe imminent doom, hoping to reach the entrance of the cave, giving me a home free run.

Light, Oh god, I've never thought light could make me feel so safe. Making a break outside, I trip ten meteres from the entrance as the sounds of flapping get closer, 'FUCK, you can't be serious' with my repel in hand, I spray myself before spraying the empty air behind only stopping when the can of repel is emptied, in a crazy attempt to block the path with the smell of it and hopefully deny them thought's of crossing the invisible boundary I had set up. As I was doing this, I didn't stop for a second, getting up mere seconds from the time I fell.

Not wanting to get into one of those cliches where the guy or girl just stares into the cave's abyss and watch as the approaching pokemon rush towards him, yea thanks but no thanks.

I'm out, but I know for the life of me, that I wont be safe until I reach the city walls of Asidia. I know that the situation I'm in won't be completely over until Im off this god forsaken mountain. Not breaking my current sprint, I ran on the path I followed to get here and my only thought was to run faster. 'LAIRON,' shit that cunt is fast, taking a quick peek behind, I catch the eyes of the Lairon, as he/she starts to sprint after me, changing it's standing position into a quick dash.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,' repeating that single word, somehow gave me comfort in this situation. Fumbling my pockets for another repel, I just empty the bottle on myself as I ran. Looking at the Lairon behind, I could tell that this fucking repel hasn't done a single thing to convince that motherfucker to stop chasing me.

But I shouldn't and wouldn't be surprised if that Lairon is the mother to the Aron's that I lured away, and to the one I caught. So I could only guess, and assume that mama wants her baby back.

'Ah it hurts, it hurts, this body wasn't made for running' and if I stop running, I could guess my outcome.

Could this shit get any worse, 'yea shouldn't have said that,' ahead of me, climbing the mountain is a friend who appears to be having a bad day, a geodude who had noticed the commotion, just sitting there waiting for me. This dude is glaring at me, if he could shoot laser beams, I know who he would be shooting at. That brother's angry.

No fucking way, thats the geodude I tricked into going off the cliff. How! How? Why is he here? Even if he's the one blocking the path, I only have three options;

Option one - Turn back, yea not a chance in hell am I running towards that Lairon chasing me.

Option two - Going off the cliff, yea not a chance in hell I would survive that.

Option three - Outsmart this motherfucker again.

Without missing a beat, I charge towards the geodude 'geo, geo, GEODUDE,' he says in mock rage, bringing a hand to my belt; I grip one of the pokeballs tightly in my hand. This method would be the most effective way to make it through this situation.

One of the things that is helpful in this universe and not shown in the anime or games, are that pokeballs are reusable, as long as they aren't defective or broken. It's just hard getting and recovering a pokeball, since an automatic response of breaking out of said ball is destroying it.

In turn, makes reacquiring said pokeball difficult, but not impossible.

Dodging a majority of the thrown rocks my way, with two hitting me. However I don't feel the initial pain thanks to adrenaline flooding my system. Coming within a few steps of the geodude, I toss the ball towards him. As he is sucked in, I ignore the pokeball and sprint past. My mind solely focused on escaping this particular mess, I just say to myself; 'If I stop running, I _WILL DIE.'_

So I repeat the words over and over;knowing the truth behind the sentence.

I ignore the way my lungs burn as I take breath after breath, I ignore the bleeding blisters that had formed during this journey, I ignore the pain my legs feel with each step. I'm just going to say it how it is, it hurts and I'm really hurting.

What was seconds turned into minutes as I escaped the mountain and onto the road back to Asidia, but I never registered where I really was. So gone into my trance for escape, for survival; I never noticed the quiet scenery devoid of the roars that were chasing me beforehand. I was so focused on making it back safely, I continued to run knowing where I would be completely safe and free to recover. I had a goal.

I ignored the passing of time, until my shaking legs couldn't take another step in my sprint and I collapsed. 'Huh huh,' my panting noises came out as wheezes as I look back in fear and all I saw was the road behind and Mount Iron all the way in the distance.

"Hahahaha" laughing at what just happened, my beating heart still pumping away. Still in the process of being able to correctly understand the last few hours; like I can still remember the day that I got here, And I still can't believe all this is actually happening. There is no way that all this could still be a dream, it would be impossible to replicate the feeling's I've experienced throughout this entire journey.

I want to scream to the world 'THIS IS REAL,' I want to dance on the spot, I never want this to end. I could remember that it was only just last week, I was in a dead end job going nowhere, just living life as it comes. But here, if what just happened is any indication to what I could be looking forward to in the future, I AM SO DOWN.

Sure there is the whole dying thing, but everyone dies at some point in their life.

Making my way back to Asidia down the beaten path, the risen sun has begun to set. A quiet and peaceful journey until an unexpected discovery in the middle of the road impedes my path. 'Abra, ab,' no way, I had unexpectedly come across an Abra; taking a closer look at him you could tell at first glance the shape the poor thing is in. Looking so close to fainting, devoid of any energy.

Approaching the Abra in a calm and collected manner, I gently move forward. 'Ab' the Abra calls out in a desperate plea. Holding the Pokemon in a similar way I would hold a baby, I inspect the serious wounds that had been inflicted onto the thing. I don't know what would be able to catch an Abra, but judging by the wounds on this one, you could tell how dangerous that Pokemon would be.

Knowing that if left alone, this Abra has a high chance of dying, I take my last remaining pokeball and catch the injured thing and continue my journey home. If the injured Pokemon was a caterpie; chances are, I would have left it, maybe hidden it but I wouldn't have caught it. The Abra line is a broken species and is another champion tier Pokemon I would love to have in my lineup, so with this lucky encounter and being one not to waste it. I caught him.

Despite all my thoughts, there was no further incident going back. I kept walking for what felt like many hours until suddenly I exited the forest tree line. I stared at the walls of Asidia for a moment before I began running the rest of the way to the gate. The trainer on duty to guide me back had spotted me and begins to open the gate, feeling like the champion after overcoming today, I raise my right hand in a fist and thrust it upwards, in a sign of victory.

The gate began to open. As soon as the opening was big enough I slipped through and fell to my knees on the other side. The gate closed up behind me. I looked up as I saw someone walking up to me. It was the trainer that escorted me here this morning.

"Welcome back," he said "I won 40 credits thanks to you. I had my money on you making it back with a caught Pokemon on your first day, and judging by that victory walk I see you using, I could tell you did."

I just stared at him and smiled

He grunted at me. "Well?" he asked.

It took me a moment to realize what he wanted. Once I got it, I took out two warm pokeballs from my pocket and handed them to him. He exclaimed in surprise, seeing another pokeball, studying the button which was blue instead of white or red, showing that while the balls contained a Pokemon, they were currently unusable since they weren't registered to a trainer. He smiled at me

"Congratulations," he said without a face of dishonesty. "You pass. You're the second one to make it back to the city state."

I finally spoke up. "Who else made it back?" I asked.

"That annoying girl was the first to make it back alive. The girl was bloodied up a bit but otherwise fine.''

Nodding to him, I assume the others are just a bit later than me in making it back.

He looked at me and says. "Let's go. The sooner I drop you off at the Center, the sooner I can go to district eight and have a beer with the others."


End file.
